The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-01-01
A GLIMPSE OF LIFE IN A hIDEOUS
LONDON SUUM

An Angel in the Midst Of an Assnblage
of Evil Ones-Life Work of ''sister ZiI-
Iah"-Her Strange Influence - Refuge
for the Homeless
You pass through a hideous London slum;
the oil lamps flare and flicker in the wind, the
hoarse hawkers shrek, the ragged children
cry shrilly, and from the public houses come
the confused babble of laughter and cursing
and the rank watts of acrid smoke. Blowzy
women, draggled women, brazen women,
drunken women pass you; ugly male night
birds scowl at you with savage eyes; foul
mouthei young girls-mere children, alas.-
salute you with impudent confidence and the
night is full Of rank odors and bleared lights.
You enter a narrow alley watching carefully
the maneuvers of the skulking creatures who
SLOUGH around with bumped shoulders and
evil gaze.
A STRANGE ASSENBLAGE.
A door opens and you in the midst OF a
strange assemblage. A bevy Of women
gather around some long tables and watch
you with dull curiosity. Here is one who is
pinched with hunger; her thin fingers are
knotty at the joints, her hair is woefully
scanty and she looks beaten, bloOdless, sor
rowful. Here is bold creature who meets
your look with hard, brutal stare; she has
heard the chimes of midnight. Here is a
specimen of the ordinary dirty, garrulous
trollop freely produced i'm the wilderness
of London. Here is a mere female animal, a
creature without soul, who sits callously
glowering at vacancy. A coarse laugh
sounds out harshIy and then a quiet voice,
with the tone of n mellow hell scars along
the low room and instantly the disorder is
stilled.
You move to the head of the room and you
are greeted by a white haired woman dressed
in black. Her eye is like steel, her lips are
composed, her forehead is very placid and her
manners are the manners of a great lady.
She is fit to move i'm any assembly in the
world and her dignity would draw the eyes
of men and women wherever she went.
Beautiful she has been, and the exquisite
mains OF her fairness remind you of some
splendid buildings grown gray with stress of
years. When she speaks, you hear that in
definable accent which is attained only by
those who live among ultra refined people
from their earliest years. A lady this of the
highest breeding. You feel as if you were in
the presence of a queen, yet she puts you at
ease instantly and falls into conversation with
polished grace. Witty she is in a subtle way
and her wit is so strangely blended with
pathos rs to present unique product of in
tellectual chemistry.
ONE woMAN's LIFEwoRK.
occasional speech worthy of the salon rather
than Of this dingy shed; but the ruling
aspect of her face and he essential tones Of
her voice are those of os,e to whom the affairs
of the world are of small moment. She
masters the evil assemblage in front of her
and the boldest slut that ever disgraced her
sex Is reverential toward the grave, kind
lady, whose will dominates all As You talk
she tells you of her work. This refuge is
open every night for the homeless, and her
duty Is to help those who are poor, to heal
those who are sick, To raise with loving. mer-
ciful words and deeds those who are fallen
None are too base for this lovely, all en-
bracing charity. Romances in plenty she can
tell and she does with a soft, matter of
fact sweetness. Every form of human
wretchesness is known to her, and her eyes
| are fixed day by day on sights of woe. Does
she ever leave that fearful quarters Never,
| Think of that, o Discontinued, pulling folk !
| This lady, who was once beautiful, rich,
courted, has given up all for the sake of
| working beneficentiy in the weary world,
and she passes her days in an appalling Lon
don slum Lords and ladies of her own class
see her, but they remain only for little
| time: she stays at her post with still con-
| stancy, and bears the squalor, the ennui, the
| loathsome sights and sounds, the recital of
| wringing records of misery. She is ocutent
| even to forego her name, and her very iden-
/ tity has persisted from the brilliant world
| that once knew her. Il am Sister Zillah, v
she says, with her courtly smile, and that is
/ all. Here is one who is an honor To London,
| to England, to the human race, toiling OBJ
| scurely in a place where even men of the
better class hardly dare venture.-London
Family Herald